Nielsen Norman Group analysis by Kara Pernice of what makes some icons bad and others good, in a nutshell:

Things that make icons bad:

Image has an established, different meaning

Reference not sufficiently obvious

Poor image quality

Repeated for every item in a list of similar items

Not comprehensible standing alone, only as part of icon set

Costs of bad icons:

Labor to create

Labor to code into pages and test

Screen space taken up

Visual noise impacting users

Benefits of good icons:

Can convey meaning to users faster than text

Easier to find than text

Bigger tap target for mobile devices

Reinforce brand style

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Here are some icons I found on tourism sites that to me are examples of bad ones. Because they give me no clue as to what lies behind them. Does your website have any icons like these? If so, better change.

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